Archbishop Anastasios of Albania: A life in Service

Archbishop Anastasios of Albania, a pivotal figure in the revival of the Orthodox Church in Albania, has passed away at the age of 95, on January 25, 2025. He was the Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania and as such the primate and Head of the Holy Synod of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, elected in June 1992 .

In 2000, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and, in 2006, he was appointed president of the World Council of Churches as well as honorary president of the World Conference of Religions for Peace. Archbishop Anastasios’s legacy is marked by his tireless efforts to restore the Orthodox Church in Albania after decades of oppression, as well as his significant contributions to interfaith dialogue, missionary work, and theological scholarship.

Born Anastasios Yannoulatos on November 4, 1929, in Piraeus, Greece, he demonstrated an early commitment to religious and intellectual pursuits. He earned a Bachelor of Divinity and a Doctor of Theology from the National University of Athens. Furthering his studies, he pursued post-graduate work in the History of Religions, Ethnology, Missions, and Africanology at the Universities of Hamburg and Marburg. He also conducted research at Makerere University College in Uganda. In 1972 he was appointed extraordinary professor of the History of Religions at the University of Athens, later Director of the Department of Religion and Sociology; in 1976 became full professor and from 1983 to 1987 he was the dean of the Theological School of the University of Athens. His impressive academic résumé contains around 400 studies, including over fifteen books and countless articles, published in international and scholarly journals, in a dozen languages. 

Along with his theological studies, he got involved with Orthodox youth organizations. In 1959 he founded and directed the first inter-orthodox missionary center in Greece entitled Porefthentes (Go Ye), and three years later the eponymous “Inter-orthodox Missionary Center”, from which the Greek-speaking missionary awakening began in the 20th century.

Anastasios was ordained as a deacon in 1960 and a priest in 1964. As Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis writes for the Orthodox Observer: “By the mid-1970s Anastasios was already well-known and well-respected for his solidarity with Athenian students protesting the military dictatorship in Greece and for his support of Cypriot students in the wake of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. During the same period and had established the Center of Missionary Studies in 1971. In 1972, when was elected associate professor  in the University of Athens, he has also elected as well as titular Bishop of Androussa, charged with harnessing the theological renewal of official church circles in Greece through diverse programs and publications. […]

It came as no surprise that two of the most senior and historic patriarchates of the Christian East historic patriarchates of the Christian East—the Patriarchate of Alexandria and the Patriarchate of Constantinople—assigned to him some of the most demanding, dangerous, and even daring challenges of recent times: 1) the organization and  coordination of missionary activities in a rapidly growing East Africa; and 2) the resurrection and reorganization of the Church in Albania. Alongside these responsibilities, at least during the first period, Anastasios retained the general direction of Apostoliki Diakonia, the official publishing and missionary arm of the Church of Greece. 

And so it was that, in Africa, the archbishop inspired and supervised the construction of dozens of churches and catechetical schools, medical centers and hospital clinics, youth camps and clergy seminars, as well as educational programs and welfare projects. As head of the sacred Metropolis of Irinoupolis (that spanned Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania), he oversaw the official opening of the Patriarchal Seminary of “Archbishop Makarios III” in Nairobi, which he directed for ten years. Over sixty priests were ordained, while and another forty readers were tonsured during that decade (1981–1991).”

Revival of the Albanian Orthodox Church

Following the fall of the communist regime in Albania in 1990, Anastasios was sent to the country to rebuild the Orthodox Church, which had been devastated by decades of religious persecution. The communist government had banned all religious practices and expropriated the property of religious organizations. He was elected Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania and Primate of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania in June 1992. He worked to rebuild the church “from the ground up,” restoring and constructing hundreds of churches, schools, and monasteries. Over 450 buildings were established, including over 150 new churches. In post-communist Albania, over 400 parishes were reorganized.

He established a Holy Synod, a new constitution and seminary, as well as numerous other institutions and programs. He ordained 168 clergy and established youth centers. He also oversaw the translation and publication of liturgical and religious books in Albanian. The church also built three hydropower projects to support its philanthropic, educational, and spiritual work. As Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis describes it: “In Albania, Anastasios inspired and inaugurated a dizzying program of reconstruction, establishing a holy synod, a new constitution and seminary; building and renovating hundreds of churches, schools and monasteries; and constructing a candle factory, printing press, kindergartens, youth and welfare centers, a diagnostic medical center, an institute for vocational training, and even a radio station and an aqueduct. He nurtured and shaped a young church—self-sufficient and self-sustaining—capable of standing as an equal to the other sister autocephalous Orthodox Churches with centuries of evolution and experience”. 

The Orthodox Church of Albania under his leadership offered humanitarian aid to victims of the Bosnian war and to Muslim refugees from Kosovo, and he helped restore a mosque in the war-torn region. During the Kosovo crisis (1999), he organized a wide-ranging humanitarian program, which helped about 33,000 refugees in different parts of Albania. He connected the Church of Albania with international Church organizations. During a period of tension between Greece and Albania, he helped to defuse it and bring the two countries closer together. At the same time, he fought for the mitigation of conflicts in the Balkans. In 2000, on the recommendation of 33 academics of the Academy of Athens and many Albanian personalities, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Anastasios was deeply committed to promoting interfaith dialogue and ecumenical engagement, striving to cultivate mutual respect and understanding among different religious communities. In the 1960s, he participated in the Working Committee of the International Commission for Missionary Studies at the World Council of Churches. Later, in the 1980s, he took on the role of moderator for the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. His involvement continued into the early 2000s, serving on the Central Committee of the WCC from 1998 to 2006, culminating in his election to the presidium of the World Council of Churches.

He had stated that “I believe we should be present in inter-Christian dialogue, that we should not withdraw to our corner, that we should not label ourselves as some kind of distilled water. There are those who accuse me, claiming that by engaging in ecumenical dialogue, I am somehow betraying my Orthodox beliefs and principles. To those people I respond that Orthodoxy is a precious diamond, which has nothing to fear or lose from exposure to others. In fact, it only shines more brightly as a result.” 

He was a respected scholar with a vast body of work in the history of religions and missionary theology, having authored over 24 books and more than 200 studies and articles translated into 17 languages.  His publications included works on Islam, Orthodox Christianity, and mission, and interreligious dialogue. Among his translated in English books are: Mission in Christ’s Way: An Orthodox Understanding of Mission,  Facing the World: Orthodox Christian Essays on Global Concerns, In Africa: Orthodox Christian Witness and Service and In Albania – Cross and Resurrection.

Archbishop Anastasios is remembered as a visionary leader, a tireless missionary, and a dedicated scholar who played a crucial role in reviving the Orthodox Church in Albania. His work focused on rebuilding the physical structures of the church, as well as fostering spiritual growth, interfaith dialogue, and social development in the country. He is described as “a candle casting light on the icon of Christ”. He was a symbol for an entire generation, and a gifted scholar, a humble servant, and a prophetic preacher. His contributions to the Orthodox Church and to the people of Albania will be long remembered.

I.L., with information from The Orthodox Observer, Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, AP News, Kathimerini, AMNA

TAGS: GLOBAL GREEKS | ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY | RELIGION